


You Were A Kindness When I Was A Stranger

by xLoveMx



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Widojest - Freeform, beauyasha - Freeform, in the background - Freeform, this is really just me being super soft for these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23236525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLoveMx/pseuds/xLoveMx
Summary: And then he waited for the impact to hit. For the warmth to fade away when she would pull back, for the world around them to start spinning again.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 14
Kudos: 154





	You Were A Kindness When I Was A Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I only recently started Critical Role ( and the second campaign ) and these two just stole my heart. Like, I don't think I've ever fallen head over heels for a ship this quickly. I wrote this for a post I came across, where one of th prompts for this week's "Widojest Hiatus Prompts" was "Nicknames"
> 
> So I hope you guys enjoy! x
> 
> Come cry with me about these two!

Caleb had gotten careless.

It was the one thing he had sworn would never happen, but then he had also sworn not to let anyone too close. Jester had been one of the first people to just straight up crash through that barrier he had surrounded himself with, Nott excluded of course.

Jester though, had just torn all of his walls down so effortlessly, that Caleb had often wondered if they maybe hadn’t been so high up to begin with. Then he thought back to that night, when Nott had asked if he trusted any of them, and Caleb had almost said _Jester_. _No one but her._

Not because it was rational. Or smart for that matter, but because he had wanted to trust her. Because her blunt and bubbly ways made him smile, even when it was the least thing he wanted to do.

Even when she drew dicks into his spellbooks, something he wouldn’t have hesitated to punch someone else in the face for. Probably Beau, if he was being honest.

The first time it happened, she had been babbling on about something, while he had been trying to read. Fjord and Molly were playing some kind of game the barmaid had taught them, and Beau and Nott were drinking, wanting to see who could last longer.

“Caleb, are you even listening to me?”

“Ja, Liebling.” He didn’t manage to catch himself, the words having slipped out absent minded, and Caleb felt his heart stop and stumble for a moment.

“ _Liebling_?” Jester attempted; her pronunciation slightly off. “What does that mean?”

His thoughts had been racing, going about a 100 miles per hour, though Caleb knew his exterior had seemed calm and collected. It was the one thing he could count on, the way he had learned to contain his emotions over the years.

“It’s just an expression,” He had found himself saying. “I was listening,” _I always am._ He had added as an afterthought, and Jester, a big smile on her face, had continued to talk on for another hour.

-

It had been a slip up, nothing to worry about, or so he had told himself, and that had worked just fine, until it happened a second time. In his defense: The whole situation had been a little extreme.

They had been fighting a monster that was terrorizing the forest just near a small town they had been passing through. It had sounded dangerous, but at this point that was their middle name, and they could always use the money.

The last thing Caleb remembered before coming back to himself, was casting a spell and then sudden darkness. His head was hurting, and his sight was just a little blurry when he returned to consciousness.

“Caleb, Caleb you need to wake up.” Jester’s voice broke through the haze and fog in his mind, and with how genuinely worried she sounded, he found his chest tighten there and then.

“Caleb you can’t die,” She added, and he could feel her hands on him, her face slowly coming into view.

“I won’t, Liebling.” Recognition passed across her features at the word, and her lips curved into what he could make out to be a soft smile.

“Good, because there’s this new book I bought, and I need you to read it. There was a lot of good smut in it.”

Caleb had laughed, despite the fact that every possible bone in body seemed to be hurting.

-

Jester had made good on her promise and delivered the book to him the next day, once everyone had recovered. They had decided to stay in town for another day or two, just to rest. He hadn’t been the only one to be wounded, and they were running low on healing potions.

“I drew little dicks on the pages with the good smut.” Jester grinned, legs dangling off the bed where she was sitting, watching him flip through the pages. “That way you can find it better,”

Everyone else had either already gone to bed early or joined Molly on his way to the bathhouse. Caleb had politely declined, and Jester had stayed behind to keep him company. He had told her that there was no need for that, but she had just shaken her head and told him that she was staying, no use of trying to convince her otherwise.

“Okay,” he had found himself saying, and now she was sitting on his bed, watching as he attempted to flip through the pages and focus on anything that was written there. It was hard though, with how close she was sitting, her knee brushing against his and her hair falling forward as she leaned in closer to get a good look.

It was hard to breathe when he was around her, and there was that ache in his chest that was all too familiar. Strangely enough, Caleb thought, he would have still given anything to be around her, even if it killed him.

It was a realization he had come to a while ago, and surprisingly enough it wasn’t as terrible as he had expected it to be. If Jester was happy, even if it wasn’t with him, then he was alright with that.

“See, it even has that word in it, the one you always call me!” Jester was smiling, and Caleb felt his heart missing another beat as she pulled the book from his hands and flipped to the beginning, where the author had written down a note.

_Für meinen Liebling,_

_Immer in meinem Herzen._

“How is it pronounced again?” Jester added as she closed the book, looking up at him expectantly. It was hard, being so open and vulnerable, because he had always been good at hurting himself, but to give someone else the opportunity to potentially hurt him? That was an entirely different matter.

Turning towards her, Caleb found that his voice was quiet, even more than usual. “ _Liebling_ ,” He then spoke softly, a voice that he found that was only reserved for her. He wasn’t sure if she knew that, but it didn’t matter really. It wasn’t like Caleb expected anything to come of it. It was just something he couldn’t help, like the way it was so easy for him to stare at her when she was telling a story, gesturing around with her hands and laughing at her own jokes.

“Liebling,” Jester repeated, and if Caleb wasn’t so sure that it couldn’t be, he would have thought that she sounded just as soft. Their eyes met for a moment, and he could feel his heart beating so hard against his ribcage, that he was almost afraid Jester would be able to hear it in the quiet of the room.

“Well. I hope you enjoy the book. Let me know what you think,” She then chuckled, giving him what Caleb assumed was supposed to be a wink, before hopping off the bed, leaving him with the book in his hands and his heart beating loudly in his chest.

-

The next time it happened, he wasn’t prepared. He never really was when it came to her. Sometimes Caleb thought that he had figured her out, and then she’d come around and do a 180, leaving his heart aching even more for her.

They were at another Tavern, Yasha and Beau were dancing along to the music that was playing, Molly had long passed out on the bench, while Nott was showing her ever growing button collection to Fjord, who was trying really hard to pay attention.

Caleb had been watching them with a slight chuckle falling from his lips, when he suddenly felt a hand tugging on his sleeve.

“Caleb, dance with me.” Jester was smiling down at him, her eyes wide and her cheeks red from the dancing she had done before.

“I’m not…” He began, but she seemed to be having none of it, as per usual.

“Beau said you have to dance with me. Or Yasha will smack you over the head.”

“I fail to see how me dancing with you is any of their concern.”

Jester, though the smile on her face remained, took to rolling her eyes as she pulled on his sleeve again. “Because they’re my friends, and they know I want to dance with you,” She then added, tugging a little harder, and maybe it was the Ale he’d been drinking, but her persistence made him a little giddy.

“Fine,” He chuckled, shaking his head as he let himself be pulled onto the makeshift dance floor. Beau and Yasha were still there, and he almost laughed again when Beau lifted her hands behind the other woman’s back, giving him a thumbs up.

The music was slow as they moved, and Caleb still wasn’t a good dancer. He was swaying around from side to side, his hands on her waist, almost careful to the touch. Not because she was fragile, but because he was afraid his own heart would burst if he pulled her close enough.

Jester’s arms wrapped around him though as they swayed around, and for a moment Caleb wondered if he was dreaming. The rest of the tavern seemed to almost blur away, Jester being the only thing in his view that was clear.

_She always had been,_ he realized. She had always been there, always been the one to pull him from his funk whenever he threatened to go under.

Caleb was helplessly in love with her, and even though that didn’t come as a surprise, it still made his heart stumble in his chest.

“Caleb?” Jester whispered, a somewhat mischievous glint in her eyes, and he almost laughed again, because he knew that look so well.

“What?”

“Are you drunk?” It wasn’t the question he had had expected, so he did find himself looking at her with a somewhat surprised look on his face.

“No…well. Maybe a little, ja. Why?”

Her smile turned a little softer as they swayed around again. “That word you always call me, what does it mean?” Her voice was quiet, like this was something that wasn’t meant for anyone else.

“I don’t think you want to know.” He quietly replied, attempting not to hold on to her a little tighter, even though he wanted to.

“Do you mean it when you say it?” Jester asked in return, and Caleb could feel his heart aching in his chest, like it was desperately trying to hold itself together, even though it was bursting at the seams.

“Ja,” He whispered, his voice almost breaking as he did.

“Then I want to know.”

And oh he was so sure that she would leave him standing there if she knew, and yet Caleb knew that he needed to tell her. Not because she had asked him to, but because she had a right to know.

He found himself leaning in, lips close to her ear, before he whispered. “ _Darling,_ that’s what it means,”

And then he waited for the impact to hit. For the warmth to fade away when she would pull back, for the world around them to start spinning again.

Jester didn’t pull away though. The world stayed frozen in place as they moved, like it was trying to be kind to them for once, as Jester got up onto her tiptoes, lips pressing against his cheek, lingering there for a moment.

Caleb, he noticed, was great at breaking his own heart, and he wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve it, but in Jester he had found someone who was great at putting it back together.


End file.
